LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – The UK government’s decision to hike the national minimum wage from April 2024 while refusing to reform the business rates system shows its cares little for the country’s retail industry, the boss of electricals group Currys (CURY.L) said on Thursday.
Britain’s minimum wage, called the National Living Wage, will increase by 9.8% to 11.44 pounds ($14.44) an hour from April 2024, making it one of the highest as a share of average earnings of any advanced economy.
The increase was significantly more than UK retailers had expected and was announced the day before finance minister Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement, which disappointed major retailers by not addressing what they see as the unfairness of the business rates system.
“For the retail industry as a whole, having the big hike in the National Living Wage at the same time as an expected half a billion pound ($631 million) increase in the (business) rates bill just shows how little the government appears to understand or care about this industry,” Currys CEO Alex Baldock told reporters after publishing first half results.
“There are 3 million jobs at stake in UK retail and loading more costs onto an already over-burdened sector is irresponsible,” he said, calling on the government to think again on business rates.
Baldock said frontline staff at Currys have seen their pay increase by 37% over the past five years.
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